Locking means for car roof hatch covers



June 26, 1962 F. G. STEWART E'l 'AL 3,041,099

LOCKING MEANS FOR CAR ROOF HATCH COVERS Filed June 14, 1960 2Sheets-Sheet 1 22.1mm; I

REDERICK G. STEWART MORR 1s WARSHAL June 26, 19.62 F. G. STEWART ETAL 73,041,099

LOCKING MEANS FOR CAR ROOF HATCH COVERS Filed June 14, 1960 Y 2Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 4.

MORRIS WARSHAL ATTORNEY United States Patent I 3,041,099 LOCKING MEANSFOR CAR ROOF HATCH COVERS Frederick G. Stewart, Washington, D.C., andMorris Warslral, Woodbridge, N.J., assignors to Magor Car Corporation,New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed June 14, 1960, Ser. No.35,982 2 Claims. (Cl. 292259) This invention relates to means forlocking car roof hatch covers.

One object of the invention is to provide a two-stage lockingarrangement for hatch covers for added security and safety of operation.

A more specific object of the invention is to prevent a sudden anduncontrolled opening of the .hatch cover upon release of the primarylocking means.

Another object of the invention is to provide secondary locking meanswhich also serves as a safety catch device and automatically isself-positioning during the locking of the hatch cover.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent inthe course of the following detailed description, taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view partly broken away showing the roof of arailway car with a plurality of batch covers installed therein.

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view on an enlarged scale of one of the hatchcovers shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation taken on line 33 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view showing the safety catch in its operativeposition after initial release of the latch bar.

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view showing the hatch cover in its closedposition with the latch bar depressed and the safety catch ininoperative position.

FIGURE 6 is a perspective View showing the latch bar released so as topermit opening of the hatch cover.

Referring to FIGURE 1 of the drawings, R designates a railway car roofhaving a plurality of hatches H there- The hatches and the relatedlocking mechanism are all similar in construction, hence only one ofthem will be described. Each hatch comprises a frame F designed to fitaround an opening in the car roof R as shown in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3. Theframe F includes an annular flange 1 having hinge butts 2 and 3 locatedon opposite sides thereof. A resilient strap 4 is pivotally mounted atone of its ends in the hinge butts 2 and is secured substantiallymedially thereof to the top surface of a hatch cover 5. The free end ofthe strap 4 is bent downwardly and outwardly to form a tongue 6 which isdisposed adjacent the hinge butts 3 when the cover is in closedposition.

Referring particularly to FIGURES 4, 5, and 6, a latch bar or lever 7 isprovided with a handle 7a at one end and at its opposite end ispivotally mounted in the hinge butts 3. When cover 5 is to be locked ina closed position, lever 7 is moved downwardly across tongue 6 into abifurcated keeper member 8 on frame F. The keeper member 8 includes apair of parallel, spaced apart, vertically disposed arms 8a and 812,both of which are provided with aligned openings, 9, 9a in their upperportions. The lower portion of arm 8b is provided with a projection ortoe 10 having an opening 10a therein. A bolt 11 of substantially J-shapehas its longer leg 11a slidably fitted within the opening 10a and isprevented from being completely removed therefrom by means of a cotterpin 12. The shorter leg 11b of bolt 11 is adapted to pass through theopenings 9, 9a in arms 8a and 8b to lock the lever 7 when it is in itsdownward or closed position.

The construction thus far described is suflicient to initially lock thehatch cover in position and serves as the primary locking means.Nevertheless, in actual practice when the leg 11b of bolt 11 is removedfrom its locked position in arm 8b, the lever 7 and cover 5 have atendency to swing upwardly with considerable momentum, thus creating ahazard which might result in injury to the workman or possible damage tothe car roof. This sudden acceleration of the hatch cover and lever isdue to large deflections and built up potential energy in the hatch lockcomponents, particularly when the latter are made of aluminum alloys,although a somewhat similar condition may also occur when othermaterials such as steel or plastics are used.

In order to overcome this problem a secondary locking means in the formof a safety catch 13 is pivotally secured at its upper end to the lever7 by means of a pin 14. The catch .13 comprises a shank 15 having a hook16 at its lower or free end. The tendency of the catch to swingcounterclockwise as when bar 7 is being elevated or lowered is limitedby means of a stop or lug 17 secured to the side of the lever 7 adjacentthe shank 15 of the safety catch. Thus the catch 13 is so disposed thatit is self-positioning in the locking cycle as will hereinafter appear.

When it is desired to lock the hatch cover in closed position, saidcover is moved downwardly over the hatch opening so that the tongue 6 ofstrap '4 lies between the hinge butt 3 and the keeper 8. With the bolt11 in its outward position as shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 2, thelever 7 is moved downwardly into engagement with tongue 6 of strap 4. Asthe lever 7 is depressed against the spn'ng resistance of the strap 4the book 16 of safety catch 13 is held in position by lug 17 so that itwill engage and slide down the inclined surface of member 8b until itpasses the toe 10 thereof at which point it will swing by gravity in acounter-clockwise direction to a position beneath and slightly spacedfrom the toe 10. The bolt 11 is then moved inwardly so that the shortleg 11b thereof will bridge the space between members 8a and 8b and, byhearing against the upper edge of lever 7, will retain it in itsdownward locked position.

When it is desired to unlock the hatch cover the workman drives the bolt11 outwardly with a maul or hammer so that the leg 11b of the bolt willbe moved away from the upper edge of lever 7. Due to the inherentresiliency of the strap 4, the built up energy therein as well as in thelever 7, will cause both to have a tendency to spring upwardly when thebolt 11 is removed. However, such upward movement will be restrictedwhen hook 16 of the safety catch 13 grips the protruding toe portion 10of member 8b. Thus, the initial stored up energy in the hatch lockcomponents is substantially dissipated, thereby eliminating the hazardspreviously mentioned. By the operator pressing downwardly on the handle7a of the lever 7 with one hand and moving the safety catch 13 in aclockwise direction with his other hand, the lever 7 may be safely movedaway from tongue 6 so that the hatch cover 5 may be opened.

While we have disclosed our invention in accordance with certainspecific structural embodiments thereof, such is to be considered asillustrative only, and not restrictive, the scope of the invention beingdefined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A hatch construction comprising in combination a frame having anopening therein, a cover for closing said opening, a strap pivotallymounted at one end on said frame and secured to said cover substantiallymedially thereof, the free end of said strap forming a tongue, a leverpivotally mounted on said frame and engageable with said tongue, keepermeans mounted on said frame to receive said lever, said keeper meanscomprising a pair of spaced apart vertically disposed arms, each of saidarms having an aligned opening adjacent its top edge, a toe portionextending downwardly and outwardly from one of said arms and having anopening therein, lever engaging means associated with said keeper meansto retain said lever in locked position against said tongue, said leverengaging means comprising a bolt having a long leg, a short leg and aweb portion therebetween, the legs of said bolt slidably disposed insaid keeper means, safety catch means pivotally secured to said leverand engageable with said keeper means to prevent sudden acceleration ofsaid lever and said hatch cover upon the unlocking of said lever, saidsafety catch means com- References Cited in the file of this patentUNITED STATES PATENTS 2,302,957 Rhodes Nov. 24, 1952 2,735,709 ThompsonFeb. 21, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 552,822 Canada Feb. 4, 1958

